Ooops Donald?
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.), whose committee will mark up a portion of the Senate budget reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement operations, says there’s a good chance that the $1 billion in funding for the White House ballroom will be removed from the bill before it reaches the Senate floor.
Paul, who opposes spending taxpayer dollars on the ballroom, said the $1 billion provided to the Secret Service to provide security enhancements to the White House ballroom faces several major hurdles to remaining in the bill text.
The $1 billion for the ballroom was included in the portion of legislative text released last week by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary panel’s bill will be combined with text drafted by Paul’s Homeland Security Committee to produce the budget reconciliation package that will come to the Senate floor next week.
“I’m for still doing it with the private donations,” Paul said of how to pay for the White House ballroom and security enhancements associated with the project.
He said there are “a lot of questions” whether the $1 billion ballroom provision will survive procedural objections…..
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But Paul said that even if the Senate parliamentarian approves of the funding for security enhancements to the ballroom, it could still get stripped out at the committee level.
“If it were in reconciliation, there’s all these technical things but I think it has to go to the committee of jurisdiction and I think the committee of jurisdiction is not my committee,” he said.
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“I don’t think it will be in there, is what my guess is,” he added.
Paul has introduced a bill to set up an expedited process to approve the White House ballroom and future projects by future presidents without providing any funding.
“I’m for funding it with private funds,” he added……
Trump arm twisting has commenced …..
Republicans turn ballroom fight into referendum on Trump’s safety
Senate Republican leaders plan to turn the political fight over the $1 billion request for security upgrades tied to the new White House ballroom into a referendum on President Trump’s safety.
Why it matters: Democrats think the $1 billion figure gives them a simple, bumper-sticker attack against Republicans for voters who are concerned about the cost of living…..
This IS Politically INCREDIBLY STUPID.…
Update….
Historic preservationists sued to stop the project, and a federal judge ordered a halt to it. But construction on President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom is pressing forward, with the first portions of the structure now rising aboveground amid a continuing legal battle and a congressional fight about how to pay for it.
For the first time, workers have built part of the structure that will be visible once the project is finished, according to two people familiar with the project, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly…..
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